Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Polk Audio LSi9 Bookshelf Speakers (Pair, Ebony)

Polk Audio LSi9 Bookshelf Speakers (Pair, Ebony) Review



Polk wrote the book on customer service.

We have two pairs of LSi9 speakers. I bought the first pair in March 2009 after reading wonderful reviews about them here at Amazon. We have a set of Polk SRS 3.1s in our living room, so I didn't want to get anything else but Polks. The SRS 3.1s are 48 inches high and weigh 100 pounds EACH, and they are 19 years old, but they sound as fabulous as the day we got them, so my preference for Polk is justified. The LSi9s were placed in our master bedroom, to be used mainly with the computer where I store most of our music. They sound just as good as the towers in the living room, perhaps tighter and better focused, even though they are only a third of their size. I loved them so much that three weeks later I went back to Fry's Electronics to get another pair for my office, to replace the Klipsch bookshelf speakers we had there for a while. Well, Fry's only had one set left, an open box pair which were in use as demonstrators. The price was right, so I bought them on the spot.
Now comes the good part. One of the open box speakers didn't sound right. I reluctantly called Polk Audio's customer service, expecting a run-around from voice mail hell. To my surprise on the second ring a pleasant young man named Eric answered. I told him about the problem with the open box speaker, and Eric said I could ship it to San Diego for repair, or he could send me the parts and I could repair it myself. He said there are only one or two parts which might be bad, and replacing them takes only 10 minutes. I didn't want the hassle of shipping the 35 pound speaker, so I asked Eric to send the parts. The crossover didn't help, so I called again and asked for the 5 1/2 inch driver. Well - the driver arrived next day, I changed it in 5 minutes, and I sent back the old parts to San Diego. The only tool needed was a Philips screwdriver. It is absolutely amazing how quick and efficient is Polk's customer service, especially in this age, when horror stories abound, just read some other posts here about any other brand.
By the way we had other speakers before the Polks, such as Acoustats and Magnepans, but I personally find the Polks, tower or bookshelf, much superior to anything else I owned or heard anywhere else. One of these days I'd like to hear the top of the line LSi25s - I'd probably get a pair if they weren't so very heavy. Thanks, Eric, and thanks, Polk Audio.



Polk Audio LSi9 Bookshelf Speakers (Pair, Ebony) Feature


  • Pair of bookshelf speakers that delivers superior linearity, definition and sound imaging
  • Equipped with two 5.25-inch dynamic balance aerated polypropylene composite drivers
  • Contains a rear-firing power port for precise deep bass
  • Equipped with one 1-inch high performance ring radiator tweeter
  • Cast aluminum driver baskets resist flexing and "ringing" for ultra-tight bass and coloration-free midrange.



Polk Audio LSi9 Bookshelf Speakers (Pair, Ebony) Overview


The Polk Audio LSi9 bookshelf speaker is a bookshelf speaker that delivers superior linearity, definition and imaging, as well as bass response that's rich, deep and satisfying. It's superior musical accuracy equals serious theatrical impact. Like the whole LSi Series, it is highly accurate and intensely musical. Its dual driver and Ring Radiator Tweeter (rare in a speaker of this price) present a large soundstage without sacrificing pinpoint localization. The Mylar bypass capacitor in the high-pass crossover extends and flattens high frequency response. Hear musical details you've never heard before. Listen to the LSi Loudspeakers with SACD and DVD-Audio sources to reveal higher accuracy and resolution, with more dynamic response and superb focus; true three-dimensional imaging and remarkable reproduction of even the finest details.


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Customer Reviews


Beautiful (Needs powerful amp) - Punit Shetty - Dubai
Needs a powerful amp (would recommend at least 200 watts @ 4 ohms) to bring out their true beauty. I discovered the meaning of the word "sound stage" with these speakers. The bass is just too good to be true , all my friends think there is a sub woofer playing also & search for it & are amazed to find that all that base is without a sub.
The clarity is the best I've heard so far.

I've heard that these don't sound so good with a less powerful amp so throw that into the equation when you think about buying them.



Overrated - George Goldberg - Tucson, AZ United States
For the same money, I think better sound is available. I compared them with my Paradigm Monitor 11 v.3 speakers and found the Polks much less open, almost as if they had a blanket over them. I also found that at moderate volume the woofers began making a vibrating noise which obliged me to attenuate the bass. I was using a Cambridge Audio Azur 640a v.2 integrated amplifier rated at 120 watts into 4 ohms and initially set at direct (bypassing tone controls) - the same way I play my Paradigms - but as noted had to turn the bass way down. This stopped the vibrating but of course reduced the bass, which isn't very deep or strong to begin with. (Lest anyone think that it's unfair to compare stand-mounts with floorstanders, please note that they are almost exactly the same price - and the Paradigms don't need stands.) If you are limited to stand-mounts (you certainly can't put these deep, heavy speakers on a bookshelf), these might be worth trying. But I would certainly recommend giving others a try too.






Outstanding! - Heimdahl - Hillsboro, OR USA
These are probably the best bookshelf speakers you can buy at ANY price!

YEs, they are 4-ohm impedance so you need a high-current amp or receiver and yes, they are heavy but oh, what beautiful sound!

oh yeah, they look at good as they sound.
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